Nearly Christmas
by JanSuch
Summary: It's a peaceful night, nearly Christmas, and Helen, Nikola and Danny are enjoying a quiet family evening when suddenly . . .


Helen, Nikola, and Danny were relaxing in their suite one evening shortly before Christmas. Helen held a book and a glass of wine, Nikola held the baby and a toy catalog while he reclined on the couch. His wine sat on the end table near him.

Nikola was keeping up a steady one-sided dialog with Danny, describing the toys and asking what he liked. Danny squealed, laughed, and occasionally hit the book with a pudgy fist.

Helen was enjoying the peaceful moment. The Christmas tree was up and decorated, there was a wreath hung above the roaring fire in the gas fireplace, and Nikola had carefully placed a sprig of mistletoe over the door to their bedroom.

The entire Sanctuary was decorated with the exception of Nikola's lab. He had declaimed a bit pompously that science didn't take holidays. Actually, he just didn't like decorating and then taking the decorations down again, considering it a waste of time. Besides, he hadn't been spending quite as much time there since Danny was born, although he still worked eight or ten hours a day.

The way Nikola was fixating on the toy catalog, Helen was getting a little concerned he would flood their apartment with toys that were far too advanced for their son.

"Nikola, you know he really doesn't understand what you're saying or what those things are you're showing him."

"He's brilliant, of course, and he understands more than you think, Helen."

"I'm not sure how you can judge intelligence at his age, but Danny's coordination isn't ready for remote controls or science kits."

"He knows what he likes, Helen."

"Danny is responding to you, not the catalog."

"You're wrong, he is reacting to what I'm showing him."

Helen sighed. Nipping this in the bud was harder than she expected. "Very well, then tell me, what does he like?"

Nikola looked up at her and smiled. "He likes red. Anything red, with maybe a little splash of yellow or blue thrown in."

Helen laughed in relief. "So for Christmas, we should get him anything as long as it's red?"

"I could probably paint a cardboard box bright screaming red and he'd love it," Nikola confirmed.

Just at that moment there was a muffled "boom" and the building shivered. Helen put down her wine and book, Nikola pushed the catalog aside and sat up. They looked at each other in alarm, but before either could speak, there was another louder "BOOM" and the building shook.

A few ornaments fell from the tree and Helen turned off the gas to the fireplace. Nikola was heading to the door with Danny and she had a momentary thought that they should take Danny to Erica to watch while they investigated, but she changed her mind. The safest place for her son was right where he was, in his father's arms. Even if the building collapsed, Nikola would protect him with all his considerable vampiric abilities.

There were other confused people in the hall. Helen buttonholed Will and told him to evacuate the building as she and Nikola headed for the stairwell. Whatever was happening, it was on a lower level. They joined streams of people heading down.

At ground level they asked someone where the explosions were coming from just as another shook them. Were they under attack? But no one seemed to know.

Amid the noise and confusion of people trying to exit, Nikola leaned in close to Helen and yelled, "Henry's lab?"

Helen yelled back, "Possibly, but he wasn't working on anything that could cause this!"

"Obviously, Wolf Boy goofed. Come on." They ran toward the lab. When they turned the corner and entered the hall where it was located, they encountered smoke and debris. The doorway still stood, but the hall was littered with scraps of the door and debris that had blown through.

Another explosion. They both sheltered Danny, and Nikola handed him to his mother. Then the vampire picked his way to the lab doorway and quickly peered in.

"It's all smoky, I can't see much of anything. I'll have to go in," he called back over his shoulder.

"Find Henry!"

Nikola just waved and darted into the lab, moving to the side as soon as he was in to avoid being blown back out through the doorway if there was another detonation. He could see flickering electrical charges and a buzzing sound coming from the middle of the wrecked lab. Okay, that was where the problem was, but where was Henry?

He saw movement over by a wall and picked his way over to a hairy mound. Good, the kid had had the sense to change to his HAP form otherwise he'd be toast by now. There was another explosion from the center of the room, very loud, and Nikola was tossed into the wall, sliding down it on top of Henry, who groaned.

Barely ruffled, the vampire got up and grabbed the naked elongated form on the floor awkwardly, shifting it into a fireman's carry across his shoulders. The long legs and arms hung down, getting in his way and slowing his progress out of the lab. But Nikola made it to the door before whatever it was went off again and was out in the corridor when there was another "BOOM".

Helen and Danny had been joined by the Big Guy who had brought a stretcher and her medical bag. Nikola dumped his burden on the stretcher. Danny was whimpering softly and his father put his head down by the baby and said, "It's okay Danny boy, Uncle Henry just has an owie, he'll be fine."

Helen handed Danny to Biggie while she started examining Henry. At the same time she said pointedly, "Nikola, the building isn't going to continue to withstand these shocks very much longer."

"Yes, Dear, I'm on it." Nikola headed back to the lab while Helen and Biggie moved the stretcher toward the infirmary, trusting that the vampire would be able to stop whatever was happening.

It actually was very simple to stop. Every lab had an emergency shut off for the electricity and Nikola knew exactly where it was. One more explosion, and then he was there and pulled the lever.

The buzzing and electrical discharge ceased. Nikola worked his way to the center of the lab, waving away the smoke, and crouched down. A thick cable ran to an object about the size of a beach ball. It was made of an odd metal and not shaped like anything he knew with rounded sections and odd projections. The vampire touched it gingerly with no reaction from the object. He disconnected the jury-rigged power source and gently picked it up.

"Well, well, well, what have we here? Heinrich has been hiding you from me, hasn't he? Naughty wolf boy. You're Praxian, I see some surface scarring, probably dug out of the ruins. Come along, you lovely little bit of Praxian tech, I'll take you to my lab and we can have an in-depth discussion and I can discover all of your secrets. Would you like that? Of course you would," Nikola crooned to the object, all the way to his own lab.

An hour later he went to the infirmary, assuming Helen and his child would still be there. They were, and Erica was with Henry who was sitting up in bed in his human form.

Will was there as well. As Nikola walked in he said, "The building is still structurally sound, just minor damage, a few broken windows, things fell off of shelves, that sort of thing. But really, Henry, I expect this sort of thing from Tesla, not you."

Henry replied, "Hey, all I did was plug it in to see what it did. How was I to know it would go crazy?"

Nikola joined the group around Henry's bed. "You know by taking it apart and examining it first."

"I did that, everything looked fine, no loose parts or burned wires or anything."

The vampire sighed. "Heinrich, that's not what I said. I did not say examine it for damage, I said examine it, as in trace every circuit, determine every movement each moving part will make when active before turning it on. How long have you been hiding it from me?"

"Well I wasn't exactly hiding it. I just wanted a chance to look at it myself, because whenever I get something interesting, you get your sneaky hands on it and then it always mysteriously disappears out of my lab. Okay, I guess I was hiding it, but I had a good reason."

"How long?"

"Ah, only a couple of days, and I want it back. I had it first."

Nikola looked peeved. "Two days? You had it a whole forty-eight hours and the best you could do was jury rig it to house current? Heinrich, Praxian tech does not run on house current. I would think by now you would know that after all your poking around my gates."

"Well I know the gates don't run on house current but . . . wait, that little whatever it is pulls power the same way the gates do?"

"Ah finally, the light dawns—dimly, but better than not at all."

Erica broke in. "Okay boys, that's enough. Henry needs his rest so everyone out."

Henry objected, "But I want the thingamajig back! That's my experiment."

"Fine, you'll get it back, "Nikola said soothingly. And then he added, "After I've had my turn for two days. Of course by then I will not only know what it is and how it works, I'll have it working, so I guess you won't really need another chance to try to bring down the building."

"Hey, I'm just as good a scientist as you are. If I couldn't figure it out in two days, neither will you."

Nikola gave him a devilish smile. "Would you like to bet on that?"

"Absolutely, name your stakes."

"If I have it working in two days which would be late on Christmas Eve, I get the next three 'interesting' objects brought in, and if not, you get them."

"Done! And you can have until midnight, because you are not going to figure that puppy out in that short of a time, no way."

Erica said, "Henry, calm down. And now really, everyone please leave."

Will, Helen with Danny, and Nikola walked out together. Will said to Helen, "I don't know which one to root for. On one hand, I want Henry to win, Tesla is kind of greedy about new tech and Hank deserves a chance. On the other hand, he nearly destroyed the building. But on the third hand, as bad as that was, Tesla tends to work on a larger scale. We might not even have the cavern left when he gets through. Who are you pulling for?"

Helen refused to answer, just gave him an enigmatic smile as she and Nikola parted from him to go to their own suite.

When they arrived, Nikola asked, "So you're rooting for me, right?"

"Just don't destroy my house, Nikola."

"You're reserving that privilege for yourself? You blew up the last one."

"Absolutely. I will destroy my house when and if I choose and I don't take kindly to interlopers. So you will be careful with the thingamajig, right?"

"Sure, you know my genius."

"Mmm, that's why I'm worried."

For the next two days no one saw much of Nikola. He was in his lab twenty hours a day. Helen was beginning to think he was going to be there all of Christmas Eve right up to the stroke of midnight. But at six o'clock he sent her a message to have everyone gather in their suite at eight.

Henry, Erica and daughter Angelina, Will, and Big Guy were waiting with Helen and Danny when Nikola came in pushing a cart. On top of the cart was the thingamajig as well as other things on the second shelf covered with a white cloth. Nikola pushed the cart to the middle of the room with exaggerated care.

"Wolf boy, are you ready to eat kibble?"

"You're bluffing," Henry responded, but he didn't sound very sure. Tesla wouldn't be making a big show if he had failed.

From underneath the cloth Nikola drew a cup and saucer. He turned to Helen and asked, "Would you prefer tea or hot chocolate?"

Taken aback for a moment, she hesitated and then said, "Tea."

Nikola placed the cup under one of the protrusions and out came a stream of hot tea. He moved the cup to a different protrusion and milk came out. Retrieving a spoon and from beneath the cloth, he presented the cup to Helen.

"That's just how you like it, I believe," he said.

Everyone stared at her as she sipped her tea. Helen put the cup down and smiled at Nikola. "That's actually quite good. It does hot chocolate as well?"

"Or coffee, or chicken soup if you like. It has room for two hot beverages and two cold. Henry, what would you like?"

The HAP was still gaping at him, but recovered himself enough to say, "It's a _teakettle_? I nearly wrecked a building with a _teakettle_? That's it, I quit."

Nikola poured him a cup of hot chocolate and squirted a little whipped cream into it from a fourth protrusion. "Here, maybe this will make you feel better."

Henry took the cup, but just sat shaking his head. "How long did it take you to figure it out?"

"A couple of hours. But I wanted to have the freshest Earl Grey and the finest Swiss chocolate for this demonstration."

As Nikola poured and passed out the drinks, Helen asked, "So what have you been doing locked in your lab the last two days?"

Nikola sat down with his own cup of tea. "Oh, didn't I mention it? A whatchamacallit came in two days ago and I've been trying to figure out what it is. No rush, though, I've got dibs, right Henry?"

Henry glared at him then just drank his hot chocolate.


End file.
